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The One Thing People Forget About Putin
Believe it or not, Putin was once quite pro-Western. Indeed, before Ukraine and Georgia expressed interest in joining NATO back in 2008, Putin also expressed interest a few years before.
His relationship with George W. Bush was notorious. Bush would visit and they’d go fishing. He also got along with Tony Blair, whilst he was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. These three leaders all fought alongside each other in their war on terror, following 9/11.
The one thing people forget about Putin, then, is that he expressed interest in joining NATO and bring change to Russia’s authoritarian and, at times, totalitarian history.
In a widely televised appearance, Putin confirmed that he asked Bill Clinton in 2000 about joining NATO.
Here’s the full statement:
I will say one thing that I have never said before in public. I will say for the first time that in 2000 when President Bill Clinton was visiting Moscow at the end of his term, I asked him how would America see Russia joining NATO. I would not give you all the details of that conversation, but the reaction to my conversation — look, well, let me put it this way. How did Americans really look at this possibility? You can see it in their practical stance. Open support of the terrorists in North Caucusus, ignoring our demands and…
